Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt

Author:Dan Koboldt
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857669971
Publisher: Watkins Media
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

White Knuckles

The only thing Tom liked about crossbows was that they took time to reload. As long as the archer didn’t put the first bolt through your gut, it gave you a nice chance to kill him. Still, he couldn’t fault Darin for keeping one under the bar. Or Kat for snatching it up when the men charged in holding knives to her boys’ throats. Hells, it took every ounce of self-restraint he possessed to keep from knocking those spears aside and clubbing their bearers to the floor. He’d start with the one on the right. He was the shortest of the three, seemed the most distracted, and his guard was too low.

But no, he had to push those thoughts out of his head. Darin and the woman who called herself Zora had both relaxed their postures. He no longer held the dagger against the artery in her thigh. Clever move, that. Tom had worked in the Rooster for years and still hadn’t found all of Darin’s little hidey-holes for weapons.

“Every shipment of imperial dreamwine enters our borders on the queen’s highway,” Zora was saying. She’d unrolled a large hand-drawn map on heavy parchment. It was, even from a distance, the finest map Tom had ever seen. Must have cost her a fortune. By the way Darin was staring at it, he’d probably had the same thought.

“The first ten leagues of that are a flat, straight highway that runs due east,” Zora said.

“I know it,” Darin said. His voice sounded oddly tight.

“That’s where you’ll take the shipment.”

“It’s far too close to the border.”

“Nevertheless. You must take the wine before it reaches this point here.” She jabbed her finger down on the parchment.

Darin made a pained face. “We don’t usually operate under such strict conditions.”

“I’m hardly a usual client, though, am I?” Zora said.

“You seem to know about our past. So you must understand that our work involves a certain amount of…” Darin trailed off, as if unable to find the right word.

“Nuance?” Evie called over her shoulder. Most of her attention remained on Kat, who had yet to relinquish the crossbow.

“Yes, nuance,” Darin said.

“The terms of this contract are not negotiable,” Zora said.

“They’ll need to be, if you want us to actually do it,” Darin said. He allowed enough ice into his voice that everyone felt it. Some of the retainers stiffened. Others, like the ones closest to Tom, gripped the handles of their weapons more tightly. For his part, Tom kept very still. If they made to point steel at him again, he would act. No matter what Darin said or signaled. Coming into someone’s home with blades drawn had already caused nearly as deep an insult as Tom could bear. Blood feuds had started over less in the Scatters.

Zora stared at Darin, her face unreadable. “Are you backing out of the job?”

“No, I’m telling you what we need to get it done. And part of that is being more than a ten-minute ride from the Jewel Empire.”

Zora held her silence a moment longer while everyone else held their breath.

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